Philadelphia Film Critics Circle weighs in on this year's best Oscar nominees

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The Oscars are this Sunday, March 10th.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences does the official voting on the Oscar winners, but Philadelphia also hosts its own awards.

Rich Heimlich and Stephen Silver co-founded the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle in 2017. This is our city's chance to weigh in on the year's best films and other categories.

"For some reason, there had never been an organization like this in Philadelphia, when there is in most other cities," Silver says. "So we just decided, you know, let's do it."

"We wanted to put Philly back on the map for film," Heimlich says.

And it seems, our opinions hold clout!

"We get a lot people going, 'What's Philly going to do?'" Heimlich says. "We're known for being a little different than the groups that have been around for 70 years."

Every December, the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle hands out its own awards. They have a ceremony in Heimlich's home theater.

"'Poor Things' was our big winner this year," Silver says. "That was our pick for Best Film, and also for Best Director for Yorgos Lanthimos, and we gave Best Actress to Emma Stone."

That's where they didn't agree with the front runners heading into the Oscars. But for some major awards, they're on the same page as the predictions.

"Cillian Murphy for 'Oppenheimer' was our Best Actor and Da'Vine Joy Randolph from 'The Holdovers' - from Philly, of course - was our Best Supporting Actress. I think she has a very good chance to bring the Oscar back to Philly," said Heimlich.

The Philadelphia Film Critics Circle also hands out an award in a category all our own: the Philips Steaks Cheesesteak Film Award.

"Is a Philly cheesesteak good for you? Not necessarily," Heimlich laughs. "But it's damn tasty. This year 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One' won. It's basically a film that may not be a critic darling, but everybody seems to love it. You just sit down and have a great time. It's a guilty pleasure."

On Sunday, Philly will have its eyes on Jenkintown's Bradley Cooper. He just picked up three more Oscar nominations for 'Maestro' for a total of now 12 nods over his career.

Can he do it this year?

"He's got two problems," Heimlich says. "First of all, it's a it's a heavy-ended year for some amazing films that came out late. And we just had 'Tár' last year. So you've got Cate Blanchett, with an amazing performance as a conductor. For me, that film was better than 'Maestro.' Sorry."

Heimlich and Silver think a lot of people are going to be watching this Oscar ceremony because of the big blockbusters.

"There are a lot of movies that did really well at the box office," Silver says. "Both 'Oppenheimer' and 'Barbie' are nominated for a lot of things. The Barbenheimer phenomenon last summer was huge. These are two movies that a lot of people saw and a lot of people really cared about a lot."

"This is, flat out, our Super Bowl," Heimlich says of Oscar Sunday. The statuette alone does it for me. There's a magic to it."

For more information on the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, visit: Philafcc.org.

You can watch the Oscars live on Sunday, March 10th beginning at 7 p.m. on 6abc.